The Casual Vacancy: TV Tie In Paperback – 22 January 2015

I bought it because I LOVE JK Rowling. Not her best novel but it's a good read.

Received in good condition... But i don't like the colour of the paper .. it's a bit yellowish ..

The Casual Vacancy is a 2012 novel written by the renowned British author J.K. Rowling. This is her first novel after her bestseller series Harry Potter. It is also her first novel on adult readership.The book is set in a fictitious English town called Pagford.It begins with the death of Pagford’s Parish Councilor Barry Fairbrother. His unexpected death results in a Casual Vacancy which calls for an immediate election, the outcome of which will decide the fate of the local council estate “Fields”, a rundown sink estate.A man with a very generous spirit, Barry, had been opposed to reassigning Fields to Yarvil, a local council estate, thereby off-loading responsibility for its drug-addled inhabitants, and driving them out of the catchment area for Pagford’s nice primary school.Now that Barry is dead, many factions develop, concerning whether Fields should remain a part of Pagford or Yarvil.The lives of those in Pagford’s two estates are so distant from each other that they don’t realize the responsibility they have towards each other.A series of shocking events follow as the various applicants for the post soon find their dark secrets revealed through the Parish’s online portal, generating waves of disbelief and alarm throughout the city. While they take the wind of the sails for some people, they offer means of secret satisfaction to some.Rowling unveils a range of social issues like drug addiction, domestic abuse, rape, racism, child abuse, self-harm and suicide that plague our society and the seemingly idyllic small town of Pagford too.The Casual Vacancy is well-plotted and efficiently organized beneath its eventful surface.As in her other books, Rowling weaves remarkably vivid characters so the readers are forced to expand their minds and see beyond their personal experiences through them.She explores the teenage characters of Andrew, Fats and Krystal extremely well and really gets under their skin. The book sends out a righteous social message about responsibility towards others.The Casual Vacancy is certainly a good book, but readers shouldn’t expect the Harry Potter-like magic spell to be cast over them again.The author doesn’t focus much on her writing style, the language seems to be stereotyped and the book loses flow at various points.After a certain point, the plot becomes predictable; Rowling tries to fabricate it but a keen reader will see past it.She has tried to put forward a very admirable sentiment through this novel which is the need for empathy and social responsibility towards our fellow humans who are not as blessed as us.All in all, The Casual Vacancy isn’t a masterpiece like her previous work, but it echoes sentiments that will resonate through the minds of the readers as the story unfolds and its characters and their emotions transcend the pages.

The first 100 pages or so are a bit slow but once we get to know who's who then the novel picks up the pace and never slows down.Town's description and politics may feel a little bit alien to us but after some time you will be deeply immersed and invested in characters it doesn't even matter. We feel like we know everyone in Pagford. Thats great writing.Everything builds upto the climax which explodes(in a good way). As JK said "A big novel about a small town."

Most boring book , I lost patience after reading around 200 pages.Delivery was prompt and too in hardback in mere RS 160 was incredible.

Being the first adult novel from JK Rowling, this book is worth a read. The cuckoo's calling is a step ahead of this one though.

The media could not be loaded.  This is a a nice book and for a bookworms like me it's is a wonderful novel.. And it's available on Amazon only which is very nice ..And Thanks Amazon for this .. it's quite pocket friendly also ..

The book given to me was used and was not in good condition. It's due to the seller I have lost faith in Amazon. I will speak to Amazon and make complain.

Habiendo leído hace años "Harry Potter" creí que el primer título 'maduro' de J.K. Rowling iba a tener la misma sustancia y personajes inolvidables. Me equivoqué de manera terrible. Normalmente tengo mucha paciencia a los libros (cosa aprendida al leer a Umberto Eco) pero en este volumen no pasa nada ni a las cien páginas ni a las trescientas, lo único interesante es la muerte que desata la historia y uno o dos arcos argumentales dentro de la misma. Lo demás es paja y una avalancha de personajes y situaciones totalmente prescindibles y olvidables.

What scrutiny J K Rowling gives to the ordinary and extraordinary lives in this book. With waspish observations, laugh out loud and cry out loud moments. Very real - we all know these people, and we have all been guilty of their crimes and their prejudices. Brilliant

This is a very engrossing, beautifully written novel with enormously interesting characters and a complex & winding plot most cleverly structured. A bit of a social commentary a la Austen for modern times. Highly recommended.

Llegó muy rápido, pese a que tiene muchas páginas es muy compacto, lo que se agradece ya que lo quería de bolsillo. El libro es genial, me encanta el vocabulario, sobre todo el rango de léxico que usa JK Rowling, merece la pena cogerse la V.O.!

Ho letto la versione in inglese con non poche difficoltà, in quanto l'autrice usa un linguaggio assolutamente ricco, pieno di sfumature, modi di dire, riproduzione fonetica di slang, e praticamente tutte le parole del vocabolario. Probabilmente proprio l'uso della lingua sarebbe uno degli aspetti più godibili per un madrelingua (e anche per me) ma può costituire un ostacolo per chi studia l'inglese. Detto ciò, l'ho trovato davvero un romanzo interessante e profondo. Un grande affresco, amaro e pieno di tenerezza nello stesso tempo, uno di quei libri che non riesci a lasciare e che ti segue per qualche giorno anche dopo che lo hai terminato; in cui i personaggi, dalla psicologia complessa, prendono vita propria pagina dopo pagina, e non sono mai solo buoni o solo cattivi, proprio come nella vita reale. La Rowling, secondo me, più che una scrittrice è una demiurga, crea mondi coerenti e complessi, anche se la saga di Harry Potter non sarà mai superata.